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Friday, January 4

More edge of the seat bike build stuff

Nothing better to do, so more about the bike.

A couple of the key things that got motivated me to get this thing rolling. Perhaps insignificant to some. A reason to lie awake at night and spin the mental lazy Susan of possible permutations for me.

The Drooper post. Very important to the build. Sure, I could stop and open my QR at the top of a descent, but I'm very lazy and would rather not do anything that I'm just gonna have to undo in ten minutes or less. Most of the descents in Pisgah go up 30% of the time anyways, so pedaling becomes a hob-kneed affair when the post is positioned four inches too low. Taking full advantage of a squishy bike demands a lowered post.

Why a Specialized Drooper?

Mostly because it came with the bike, built into the MSRP. That alone was nice as I didn't have to make a choice on my own. So many to choose from today (other than the one that rhymes with Stank Mothers). I do like the fact that the Command Post BlackLite has three defined stops. Infinite adjustments means infinite options, and I do better with fewer options. You should see me try to order from a Mexican restaurant menu. If they don't have a Special Dinner, I opt for the burrito rather than scan the other several hundred options.
I 'm extremely pleased with the fact that this is all my left hand has to do:

1. Hold on
2. Apply brakes when neccesary
3. Drop post

That's almost one thing too many, but I think I can adapt.

On the other side of my bars, there is this:

Gripe Shitter

The downsides? My last experience with SRAM was a nightmare (that's a relative term for me since most of my nightmares involve clowns, talking mushrooms, and Garth "Sideshow Buju Banton" Prosser playing a Pan flute). Dropped chains to the inside, dropped chains to the outside, dropped chains just setting the bike on the ground... pathetic. So bad I single speeded the Tallboy, rode it that way for almost a year, got tired of riding a less-than-hard-tail-efficient single speed, and sadly let it go.

So, I'm back on board with SRAM once more, even though my last shifty bits were better performing XT level Shimano bits. They worked better than their previous SRAM counterparts, but even with Shadow Plus, I was occasionally dropping the chain. The XX1 option is the reason for the change, but more about that later.

I was an OG Grip Shift guy. I had the original Grip Shift on my AMP B3, and upgraded to the high zoot X-Ray version as soon as I could.

Sure they were fragile, required constant maintenance, and sorta clunky, but you could see through them!

Somewhere in my toolbox, I have a huge supply of the replaceable rubber cable doors that always had a habit of losing themselves.

What does having GripShift offer me then? The ability to dump gears in either direction like a boss. A clean cockpit with no dangly bits. A certain lack in grip options. Obviously the whole "11 speed" thing.

I 'm extremely pleased with the fact that this is all my right hand has to do:

1. Hold on
2. Apply brakes when neccesary
3. Twist

The simplest cockpit I can have with gears. That's a good start. The minimalist in me is less bothered by this arrangement. I do not like the lack of symmetry, but I'll have to get used to it.

4 comments:

john Parker
said...

Yes but with grip shift you can't brake and shift at the same time like with triggers.....allthough I will say I did dig the stay shifters way back when and they even worked pretty good with goretex cables.

Looking like we might also see you on this at the BC bike race? It a long way to go not to have the perfect bike?

You should just sell this bike before you even ride it. We all know that's what will happen anyway. You've proven more than once that you can't deal with shifty and/or squishy bits. Why do you keep fighting it? Just punch yourself in the nuts and be done already.